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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Morgan Monaco, President of Prospect Park Alliance
5:03:15
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144 sec
Morgan Monaco, President of Prospect Park Alliance, testified on the importance of increasing and baselining funding for New York City parks. She emphasized the critical role of parks as essential community spaces and urged the city to restore lost positions and invest in park maintenance and services.
- Supported the Playfair campaign to restore the park's budget with an additional $65 million investment
- Highlighted the increased visitorship to parks since the pandemic and the need for funding to match this growth
- Stressed the importance of parks as free, open, and democratic spaces, especially in the current political climate
Morgan Monaco
5:03:15
Good afternoon, I'm Morgan Monaco, president of the Prospect Park Alliance, the nonprofit organization that operates Brooklyn's flagship park in partnership with the city.
5:03:23
I'm also co chair of the Parks and Open Spaces Partners, a citywide network of more than 50 nonprofit organizations dedicated to stewarding and programming New York City's green and open spaces.
5:03:34
Together we share a vision of an equitable and resilient park system for all New Yorkers.
5:03:40
I'd like to thank the council for holding today's hearing and for joining us in our fight to protect the Parks Department's budget.
5:03:46
While we thank the administration for providing nearly 19,000,000 in funding as part of the FY twenty six budget, we encourage the administration and the council to keep pushing farther to really ensure that our parks parks are funded in the way that New Yorkers deserve.
5:04:00
The alliance is a proud member of the Playfair campaign to restore the park's budget and ensure there's an additional $65,000,000 investment to strengthen our park system and restore almost 800 lost positions.
5:04:11
These roles are critical to ensuring that our parks remain clean, safe, and welcoming spaces for our communities.
5:04:17
We are also urging the city to baseline this funding to prevent the yearly budget cuts that undermine our park system.
5:04:24
Prospect Park is truly a public private partnership.
5:04:27
We rely on the city to help with day to day trash pickup and facility maintenance.
5:04:31
This essential service is core to making Prospect Park a welcoming and accessible space for the diverse communities of Brooklyn.
5:04:38
Our parks are not luxuries.
5:04:40
They are essential community spaces where people who don't go upstate or to the Hamptons have Father's Day barbecues or see free theater or public art.
5:04:48
The impacts of cutting parks are not just about the hardworking staff but about the people who call New York City home.
5:04:54
Our parks are the destinations people come to in moments of joy and in moments of sorrow or protest.
5:05:00
During this political environment when our democracy is being tested, our parks are the great equalizers of the city and are one of the few remaining free, open, and democratic spaces, and we need them now more than ever.
5:05:13
Since the pandemic, visitorship to parks has increased significantly, but at the same time, the city has not kept up with its record use in funding of parks for the city budget.
5:05:22
We implore the city to not only increase funding for parks but also move beyond cycle to cycle funding model and baselining this additional funding, therefore securing jobs for New Yorkers and living up to our mission as being the greatest city in the world with a clean, safe, and resilient accessible park system.
5:05:39
Thanks.